Time Travel: A Classic Porsche 911 Turbo, A Twisty Road, And A Clothing Commercial?

A few days ago I got a text from a guy I'd met at a car event: "It's Adrian, the photographer and filmmaker, remember?"

Adrian asked if I'd be interested in driving my Porsche 930 for a commercial. I was intrigued, and as we chatted, the story got better. Adrian was shooting a commercial that would remake a classic 80's commercial that I remembered well; The "Bugle Boy Jeans commercial where a hot girl pulls up on a guy walking in the desert in a black Ferrari... 

But I don't own a Ferrari... I'm a Porsche guy, because Ferrari dashboards literally have lights that say "SLOW DOWN" (google it), and Porsche's don't. But Adrian said they wanted the 930. The commercial would be a shot-for-shot remake for a new clothing company but the actor (hot girl) would look different and the car would be my black Porsche 930, if I was interested.



We chatted on the phone and Adrian said 2 more things that closed the deal: First, that I'd be the only driver of the car, and second, the shoot would take place in Borrego Springs, near Julian California. A place renowned for fun twisty roads. Also, I'd get paid for the pleasure.

"I'm In" was my response. A few days later I was gingerly bombing through the desert twisties in the 930, headed to the GPS marked location that the filming brief specified. Scroll down for The Drive video.

The location was amazing and the film shoot was a blast. The best part was driving the new-to-me legendary 930 Turbo through the twisting desert roads.

As I've mentioned before, the OG Porsche 911 Turbo, Type 930, or simply "The Widow Maker" is one of my ultimate dream cars. It only took me about 35 years to get one. The black 1985 911 Turbo, the same color as the one in the poster I had as a kid. I've only had the car for a few months and this was really my first drive on a good twisty road. This car is the more powerful RoW / Euro version. It's also been upgraded over the years before I took possession and the upgrades include a K27 Turbo with a bit more than 1 bar of boost.

Driving Impressions: FUN, SCARY, FUN. You can see the boost gauge hitting a little over 1 Bar of boost here. This is quite a different beast than the other Porsches I've owned. It's much much faster and more powerful than my hot rod 911 SC but like the SC, it has no ABS, no traction control, no nannies of any kind. Big power + no nannies = scary fun.



As you can see in the video, I stayed in 2nd gear in almost all of the turns. I really wasn't pushing the car. It still needs new tires and I'm still getting a feel. Once I have the car and myself sorted I'll try this again but I will say that 2nd gear was actually great for this. Unlike its reputation, the car was well behaved. It's building boost at 3K RPM so the higher gear still gave plenty of power. That could be due in part to this 930's upgraded K27 and bespoke dual-wastegate exhaust setup but the car felt great. Fast and powerful, demanding attention, but not like it was out to get me.

All in all this was a great day. I could get used to this stunt driver gig. The commercial hasn't been released yet but I'll update here when it is. Here's some more pictures from the day: